The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service wants to raise stamp prices again. It could soon cost 49 cents to mail a letter. The post office said the 3 cent price hike is a last resort to deal with extreme financial challenges.

Some University of Minnesota students are facing some unexpected charges, while the U said it will soon have it all straightened out. The university said a programming glitch added $1,000 to 1,800 students’ bills for the semester.

When Minneapolis students had back to class a week from Monday, the district will experience something it hasn’t in more than a decade – a spike in the number of high school students attending Minneapolis Public Schools. For the first time since 2001, enrollment district-wide will be more than 34,000 students – nearly more than 400 than last year.

The Minnesota House has voted to give nursing home workers in the state a 5-percent pay increase. The pay hike is included in a broader, $6 billion a year budget for health and human services programs that the House passed Friday night by a party-line vote of 73-61. It’s one of the biggest chunks of state spending and includes funding for services for the poor, elderly and disabled.

Minnesota’s No. 1 in the nation, in a category few are rejoicing over. The Twin Cities’ average price for gas is the most expensive in the nation at $4.32 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. Chicago is second ($4.28), Honolulu is third ($4.25) and Santa Barbara is fourth ($4.17).

As gas prices in Minnesota reached record high prices of about $4 per gallon, Sen. Amy Klobuchar called on the Department of Energy to take action. The gas price spike came after the closure of oil refineries in the Midwest for maintenance.

A shortage down on the farm could lead to a price spike for a popular breakfast-time staple. This summer’s record drought has hurt many crops like corn. And pigs eat corn, making them more expensive to raise.